Exclusive: AMD to Launch "New" FX-9590 CPU

It all started with a tweet. A few days ago AMD’s Roy Taylor teased an unnamed new FX-series chip on Twitter and enthusiast websites promptly exploded with all manner of wild theories. Naturally, we were all left wondering what it was about. A Kaveri APU? The introduction of a Steamroller-based CPU? Well, after poking and prodding the right people at AMD and Overclock.net's ExtravaLANza, we got the scoop about what’s actually launching and everyone can now take a collective breather. It's interesting and "newish" but not a brand new processor or even a refreshed architecture.

In short, AMD is relaunching the FX-9590 but bundling it with a water cooling solution so it can achieve even higher out-of-box overclocking frequencies. That’s good news for anyone building a new AMD system since the FX-9590 really did need a water cooling unit to shine.

While a relaunch may not have been what many enthusiasts were hoping for or even expecting, we did review the original FX-9590 and found it to be an incredibly fast processor in applications that took advantage of its eight native cores. The only problem at the time was that temperatures and TDP ultimately prevented it from hitting higher frequencies when used with high end air cooling. If all goes according to plan, the inclusion of a closed loop liquid cooler will allow for even better overall performance.

As a little refresher, the FX-9590 makes use of AMD’s Piledriver architecture and runs at a base frequency of 4.7GHz while Turbo speeds can hit up to 5GHz if thermal and power limits allow. The TDP is understandably stratospheric at about 219W. Hopefully the additional year of binning and process refinements have helped it

The real star of this show will likely be the included Cooler Master Seidon 120 AIO LCS which is being included for only a few dollars. While the original “bare processor” FX-9590 will remain around for around $319, this updated version with the Seidon will go for just $40 more or $360. For those wondering, Cooler Master’s 120mm AIO retails for $60 when purchased alone.

While the FX-9590 (internally called FX-5 by AMD) certainly isn’t anything new, it’s good to see AMD listening to the community and offering their fastest processor with a suitable cooling solution. Whether or not it will be able to achieve slightly higher frequencies than our original sample remains to be seen but there’s no doubt this face-lifted CPU will win over more of AMD’s faithful.

From a packaging standpoint, the water cooled FX-9590 offers AMD system builders a promising direction. They can now pair of a high end processor with a capable, included AIO (which is covered by the same warranty as the CPU) with the class-leading R9 295X2. That would make for one of the fastest systems around, all while sticking to the AMD brand. We’ll be looking at the performance of this combination in a future article.

AMD’s Bernard Fernandes, senior spokesman for AMD, didn’t mince when talking about how the relaunched FX-9590 should be treated: “With a 5GHz boost clock and 8 powerful cores coupled with an effective cooling solution, it is our highest performance desktop processor. This is ideal for enthusiasts who want to build the best of AMD with an AMD Radeon R9 graphics card."

For the time being we don’t expect much new from AMD’s camp simply because summer is a slow month in the industry. Plus, they’ve already rolled the FX branding into some promising mobile offerings which have the capability to make some waves in a growing market. The relatively minor FX-9590 refresh does however point towards AMD still thinking about the enthusiast community’s needs and there are surely more surprises on the way. You’ll just have to wait a bit longer.

10 cores, 20 threads, over $1700; Intel's Broadwell-E i7-6950X delivers obscene performance at an eye-watering price. Then there's the i7-6900K which boasts all the same niceties in a more affordable...